Harvester for sugar cane or the like



Sept. 6, 1949.

P. T. WOODLAND HARVESTER FOR SUGAR CANE OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 11, 1947 & O T u E v m P1 WOOULAND ATT'YS P. T. WOODLAND HARVESIER FOR SUGAR CANE OR THE LIKE Sept. 6, 1949.

2 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed April 11, 1947 \NVE-NTOR iT- Wdd'Dl-AND A-r'r'YS Patented Sept. 6, 1949 OFFICE,

mm'vns'rnn FOR snsnn on THE mm:

Percy- Tyler Woodland Swalwelh. Alberta, Canada ApplicationApril 11, 19427 Serial No. 7442741 (cue-r7),

4t Glaims. 1

This invention relates to: a harvester for sugar caneor the like of the classwhich is: designed to' engage the cane, remove the dried leaves or trash therefrom, selectively top it, cut itand deposit it in bunches.

Harvesters of this general class have beenprovided the past. The ones known to me, however; have been quite unsatisfactory inuse. In themthe toppingmechanism was usually-- mountedabove the strippingmechanism and it was found that the leaves became tangledwith the cane and prevented accurate topping. Moreover, they did not provi'd'ea positiveenough means for forcing the stalks against the topping blades. I have invented a harvester which overcomes these disadvantages and which further has other substantial advantages over the machines of the prior art.

It is; therefore, an object of this invention to provide a; harvester which will efiiciently remove the trash from cane while it is ina standing position, and in such a manner that the trash does not become tangled inthe cane;

It is a fin'therohject of. the invention to provide a harvester" in which the cane is forced against the topping. hTadfe with. sufficient" force to ensure good topping. I

It is a. further object of the" invention to pro" vide: a harvester which wilT efficiently selectively top the cane.

It. is; a. still further oloiect; of the invention to provide a. harvester having the above characteristics which is rugged and cheap to manufacture,

With these and other'objects in View the invention generaliy comprises a truck designed to move along the cane rows. The truck carries a stripping and topping mechanism, adjacent its front end, means for cutting the cane adjacent the ground, and means for'conveying' the out cane to aihopper'at the back end of the: truck. The cutting and' topping mechanism includes two spiral shaped strippers 'rotatably mounted in parallel spaced apart relation on the superstructure of the truck and extending inarr-upward and rearward direction from the front endthereofi The strippers are spaced apart" to receive the cane therebetween and are adapted to rotate as the harvester moves along the cane rows wherebyto remove the driedleaves or'trash and to thin out and break the strong green leaf growth at the:

top of the cane while it is in astanding position. They are preferably toothed for aggressive strippin'g. Beneath the-strippers I mount a top-cutting blade'forremoving the tops from the cane.

This blade-is offset from a verticalplanethro'ngh- 2 the space betvmern the: strippers. anal has; longitudi nali axis. substantially parallel; spaced apart relation to the inclined. ventinak strippers.

I provide means to: forcing the came towards theblade' when. it is: released: the; inc'lined: strippers as the harvester moves. along whereby" to selectively top: the. cane: after that strippershave removed the: trash and thinned the green leaves.

utting knives are carried: by the truth. behind the topping mechanism ton cutting the cane adjacent the groundicane thvrs' cut-is picked uphy' a conveyor and to asihopper atethe back the truck. The invention with be ciearky maderstood aft-er reference to the following detailed specification taken in conjunctionwith the drawings.

Inthe drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation; oi my inventiiim Figureis a: plan viewof Fig. A

is'a section along the line- M of Fig. 1, showing the machine engagin two canes of different lengths.

Referring to the drawings:- AL. represents the harvester in general which comprises a truck generally indicated by the fetter Br adapted to carry a stripping" and topping mechanism G; a cane cutting, mechanism D, and a conveyor E for conveying thecut cans to a at the back of the truck. These component will all be described in detail later;

The truck generally indicated by the letter B as shown in the drawings has a body in, two

. back'wheels' If and" r2; two Front" wheels Ps and I4, anda motor l ke adapted to drive it-a-ion the cane" row. however; he propell-edi in any suitable manner.

The stripping and top ing mechanism-generally irr'd'mated by the lett'e'r' includes two hl ieal stripping member's P5, it suitably journeiied in spaced apart par-at I 1 relation in tha ture H- of the trn-c ooey it as at tag to; 2mm. These strippers slopeu warnryand haciwardily fronr the fronterid of thetrucle hody Ml and are designed tc rotate tha ttuck moves along;- 7

The strippers receive the standtng cane thei ebetween and exert an upward: pressure 'gai rist the cane as they rotate; whereby to reiri oive the dried leaves or trash and to hreal np'tlie strong green leaves, on the cane to draw" the cane into the harvester asit moves along. s'om' 'of the green-leaf growth on the caneis removed by the strippers while some is only broken-whereby to deprive it of" its 'resi'hent properties.'- The apart relation to the cutting blade 22.

bel. irigid bar 28, extending from a point under'the and I6.

This blade 22 is offset from a vertical plane ex- 7 tending through the space between the strippers I5 and I6 as seen best in Figure 6 and has its principal axis in substantially parallel spaced apart relation to the axis of the strippers I5 and I6 as seen best in Figure 1. The blade is preferably of the class having two. tooth-like cutting members, one of which is rigidly mounted on the truck body It], the other of which 24 is designed to reciprocate along its longitudinal axis and over the rigid cutting member to co-act therewith in a scissor-like manner. This is a known type of blade extensively used on farm mowers andthe like and is not here shown in detail.

.Beneath the topping .blade 22 I'mount a, de-

'flector member 25 designed to deflect'the cane engaged by thestrippers I5, I6 towardsthetopping blade. The deflector 25 in the form of the invention shown comprises a spiral shaped member, suitably journalled in the truck body III as at 26 and 21, in substantially parallel spaced It is adapted to rotate as the harvester moves along 1 to frictionally engage the cane stalk whereby to -form an auxiliary trash removing means to the strippers I5 and I6. As will be noted from Figure 4 of the drawings, the deflector 26 is offset from a vertical plane extending through the spaced apart strippers I5 and I6. I, therefore, provide a means for diverting the cane engaged by the strippers I 5, I6 around the deflector mem- In the embodiment shown this includes a front end of stripper I5, across a vertical plane 1 through the space between the strippers I5 and I6 to the deflector 25. It will be apparent that canej engaged between the strippers I5 and I6 will be diverted by this bar around the deflector -:As the harvester moves along the cane row, ."the cane is engaged in a standing position by the strippers I5 and I6 and bent around the deflector 25. The spiral shaped scrapers I5 and I6 draw the standing cane back into the machine as the machine moves along,,so that thecane is always ;;substantially in a vertical position when engaged by the strippers. As the harvester moves along,

it will :be apparent that the standing cane will disengage from the upwardly sloping strippers I5, When they so become disengaged from the strippers the trash has been removed from the stalks and the green leaves have been thinned and broken. It is further necessary, however, to

:remove the top portion of the cane or to "top it. To do this, I provide a flicking mechanism mounted in the frame ,III beneath the strippers [5, I6 which is adapted to flick thecane against the blade 22 when it is released from the sloping strippers I5, I6. Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, thi flicking mechanism comprises a member 29 rotatably mounted in the truck body III in substantially parallel spaced apart relation to the blade, and

In the embodiment shown in adapted to carry springs 30 designed to bear 1 against the cane and urge it towards the blade.

'will' be apparent that if resilient unbroken green leaves are permitted to bear against the deflector at the time the cane is released, a considerable part of the resilient force due to the bending of the cane which tends to urge the. cane towards the knives on release will be lost. When the green leaves are removed or broken however, the cane will bear directly on the deflector and the resilient force of the bent cane acts to urge the cane towards thecutting knives.

Beneath the strippers I5 and I6 I preferably mount an auxiliary stripper which comprises a spiral member 3I suitably journalled in the truck body III. This member is adapted to rotate as theharvester moves along and to engage the cane whereby to help the strippers I5and I6 to remove the trash.

In front of the strippers I5, I6 I preferably employ two gathering chains 33, 34 adapted to I guide the cane between the strippers I5'and I6. These chains have pointed fingers 35 designed to grip the cane-as the chains rotate around pulleys 36, 37, 38 and draw it into the harvester. These pulleys are suitably geared to the front end of the rotating strippers I5, I6 as indicated at 39, 'whereby they are caused to rotate.

The strippers l5, I6, deflector 25, flicker member 29, auxiliary stripper 3| are all connected to the drive shaft of the motor I4a to cause them to rotate as the harvester moves along the cane row. The connection shown in the drawings includes a shaft 39a suitably journalled in the truck: body I0, driven by the motor I 4a. The shaft 39ahas a pulley 40 mounted thereon which is adapted to drive a pulley 4I on a suitably journalled'shaft 42 by means of a belt'43. Rotational power is taken from the shaft 42 by the bevel gear assembly 44 .to supply power to the power pulley 45 (see Fig. 3), on shaft 46 which isjournalledat the top end of the truck superstructure IT. The power pulley 45 drives pulleys 41, 48, 49 and 50 (see Fig. 3) by means of a belt drive 5|, These pulleys drive the shafts of the stripper I6, auxiliary stripper 3|, flicker member 29 and deflector 25 respectively. The shaft of the auxiliary stripper 3| also carries a pulley 52 which is designed to rotate pulley 53 on the shaft of stripper, I5 by means of the belt 54 whereby to cause itto rotate.

The operation of the trashing and topping mechanism thus far. as carried by the harvester truck is this: The truck moves alon the cane row and the gatheringmembers33 and 34 guide the standing cane between the inclined strip per members I5 and I6. As these members rotate they exert an upward force on the standing cane to remove the trash. While the trash is thus being removed fthe cane is bent froma vertical position by the deflector member 25 strippers and knife 22 are inclined, sothateach cane is stripped of its trash and then topped.

The shorter canes are released and topped near the front of the machine while the longer ones are released and topped farther back in the machine. The topping blade is in substantially parallel spaced apart relation to the strippers so that all canes whether short or tall are topped the same distance from their tops.

Figure 4 shows two canes of various length engaged by the harvester along section 4-4 of Figure 1. Cane 55 is a short one and has been released by the stripper 3| and has been flicked against the topping blade 22. Cane 56 is a longer one. It is still held between the strippers and will be released as the harvester advances and the height of the inclined strippers rises above it.

Behind the trashing and topping mechanism the truck carries a cane cutting mechanism generally indicated by the letter D which is designed to out the trashed and topped cane close to the ground. The cutting mechanism includes two circular cutting blades 51, 58 suitably journalled in the body of the truck. The blades 51 and 58 are belt driven from pulleys (not shown) powered from the motor Ma, whereby they are caused to rotate and coact with each other to cut the cane. Cutters of this general class were described in my former United States Patent No. 1,365,213.

As the cane is being cut it is engaged between two moving conveyer belts 59, 60. These belts rotate on pulleys BI, 62, 63 and 64 which are in turn belt driven from pulleys 65, 66 on power shaft 39, as the truck moves along. The rotating belts carry the cane towards the back of the truck and deposit it in the hopper 61 as it is cut by the blades.

The hopper 61 has a V-shaped bottom part of which is formed by the spaced apart bars 68. These bars are each journalled in the truck frame III as at 69 and have an actuating projection 10. The actuating portions 10 are all suitably connected by a common bar H or any other suitable means to a control lever 12 on the harvester, so that by operating the control lever each of the bars will turn in its mounting to cause the bars to swing from the bottom of the hopper and dump the contents thereof.

From the above it will be apparent that I have disclosed a harvester which can efficiently strip, selectively top, cut, and gather cane. The machine is rugged, as all farm machinery should be, and compared to machines of the same class of the prior art it is cheap to manufacture. Changes and modifications in the form of the invention described will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore intended that the invention should not be limited to the form of the invention described except for the limitations expressed by the following claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a cane harvester of the class having an inclined topping blade; stripping means extending in parallel spaced apart relation to, and above said above-mentioned blade designed to engage cane and remove the entangling top 6 growth thereon, and actuating means for actuating said cane against said blade including two deflector members each adapted to extend the length of said above mentioned blade in parallel spaced apart relation thereto, one of said deflectors being mounted above the level of said blade the other being mounted beneath the level of said blade, said latter mentioned deflector being mounted closer to said topping blade in a horizontal direction than said first mentioned deflector, and means for causing cane to pass around said latter mentioned deflector on the side adjacent said blade and around said first mentioned deflector on the side opposite said blade to flex said cane whereby cane engaging with said deflectors is actuated against said blade after it is released from said strippers and from said first mentioned deflector selectively to top it.

2. In a cane harvester of the class having an inclined topping blade as claimed in claim 1 in which said first mentioned deflector member comprises a rotatably mounted spiral member and has means in connection therewith for rotating said latter mentioned spiral as said harvester is impelled along the ground.

3. In a cane harvester of the class having an inclined topping blade as claimed in claim 1 in which said actuating means for actuatin cane against said blade further includes a shaft adapted to extend the length of said deflector members, means for mounting said shaft member in parallel spaced apart relation to said deflector members, spring means carried by said shaft adapted to positively urge cane engaged by said deflector members against said blade.

4. In a cane harvester of the class having an inclined topping blade as claimed in claim 2 in which said actuating means for actuating cane against said blade further includes a shaft adapted to extend the length of said deflector members, means for rotatably mounting said shaft member in parallel spaced apart relation to said deflector members, spring means carried by said shaft adapted to positively urge cane engaged by said deflector members against said blade.

PERCY TYLER WOODLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,022,313 Gerdes Apr. 2, 1912 1,204,536 Bachtel Nov. 14, 1916 1,365,213 Woodland Jan. 11, 1921 1,648,313 Luce Nov. 8, 1927 1,703,721 Butman, Jr Feb. 26, 1929 2,096,588 King Oct. 19, 1937 2,281,904 Wurtele May 5, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 364,248 Germany Jan. 1, 1921 

